No Warmth
by A-chana
Summary: Dedede never intended to get caught up in a fight to save the world. A glimpse of what would happen if he walked away was enough to make him decide on his path, however. Pre-SSE, Oneshot


On the official SSBB site, there was a mention of scenes that had to be cut from the game, concerning how the Halberd got into the possession of the Subspace Army and how Dedede learned about Tabuu. It doesn't go into too much detail, but it says enough to give an idea of what happened before SSE took place. I decided I wanted to make a oneshot based on what could have happened.

Many thanks goes to Exilo, who beta-read this story.

(1-4-12: Minor edits done to fix awkward phrases and formatting.)

* * *

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

What was that noise that kept piercing into his mind, waking him up?

Dedede had been unconscious for only a short amount of time. It wasn't deep enough to cause him to revert to trophy form, but it was enough to leave him on the fringes of awareness. Slowly, he began to wake up, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings and of himself. Why was his cheek wet? If he had been crying, there was going to be some issues. Big ones.

Drip.

Drip.

"Shut up," he moaned weakly to no one in particular. Now he remembered. He had been harassing Meta Knight, trying to enlist his aid in training his Waddle Dees and allowing him to use the Halberd for his own gain. He had refused many times before this, so this time, Dedede went with force.

But…someone had beaten him to the punch, right? He remembered Meta Knight calling him an idiot, saying that he was making it easier for the enemy to take over. Then, there was _something_ swarming all over the ship, and the two split ways and fled…

The next thing he knew, Dedede was waking up here. He had forgotten even coming into this room, so it took him some time to remember what it was. It was a surveillance room, wasn't it? Slowly, he pulled himself up. His hand became soaked as he set it down near where his head was. He realized there was a broken pipe in the ceiling, dripping water. _Ew._

The light from the screens blurred his vision for a few seconds, but when his eyes refocused, he was shocked at what he saw. A camera on the deck was showing live feed. The sky, if it even was the sky, was now a dark purple, with clouds of various other colors floating around. In view was a still form, round in shape, and with a golden base attached. Meta Knight.

"What happened?" Dedede spoke quietly, barely able to even hear himself. Slowly, his hands brushed over the controls, trying to find something that looked like it would rewind the footage from that camera. He pressed a button, and jumped when all screens simultaneously began to rewind. It wasn't quite what he was searching for, but it did the job just the same. He focused back on the shot of the deck, and…

_Huh?_

A flash of blue and red. Swarms of something green. Stop, play forward, at normal speed.

He saw creatures clothed in green and tan surrounding Meta Knight, who was easily swatting them away. The Halberd was heading straight for a purple sphere, and entered it seconds later. Day became a horrible night in a vast, empty world.

Then he saw it. A blue humanoid figure was floating up ahead. Meta Knight had apparently seen it, too, and stopped to look as the creatures scattered away, out of sight of the camera. There was a moment where nothing seemed to happen; was the figure's mouth moving?

Rainbow-colored wings appeared on its back, unfurling. They looked vaguely like the wings of a butterfly. They were beautiful, but at the same time, Dedede immediately knew they were not a sign of good things to come.

The wings fluttered, and a red ring spread out, originating from the figure. There wasn't anything Meta Knight could do to avoid it, so he just took a defensive pose. It did nothing to prevent what happened next, however. In a flash of light, he was knocked back, in the cold, lifeless form of a trophy. The figure faded away then, and the creatures melted into a shapeless mass and retreated into the ship, leaving nothing except Meta Knight's petrified form.

Dedede gulped hard, sweat beading on his forehead. He felt cold all of a sudden, as his memory raced to try and see if he had missed something that happened in that time frame. All he could recollect was the lights in the Halberd going out for a second, and then a flash of red, before there was darkness. Had he been hit by the rings, too? If he had been, he was probably so far away that their power had faded by the time they reached him, only causing him to faint briefly.

He stumbled out of the surveillance room, trying to get used to the even brighter hall lights. He needed to make his way to Meta Knight, and then plan from there. Along the way, he tried to be as stealthy as possible – which, admittedly, was difficult for a hulking penguin in bright red robes. He managed, though, grateful for that fact.

Finally, he came out, onto the deck. Dedede inhaled, hoping for a breath of fresh air, but his lungs momentarily seized, as if the air had frozen inside them. This place offered no warmth for the lost. Slowly, he walked towards Meta Knight, cautious in case they were attacked again. Once there, he leaned down, placing a hand on the trophy base. A spark went through the two, and life returned to the masked warrior.

He sat up, looking around, before realizing who was next to him. "You…!"

Dedede snorted lightly. "I saved you in the end, so suck it up."

There was a long silence. The two had always clashed horribly because of their differing personalities, even when they _could_ get along. Finally, Meta Knight sighed, giving into his more honorable side. "Thank you, Dedede. Even if part of this was your fault, you pulled through."

"Isn't that how it's always been?"

"Hm," came the short reply. Then, he added, "Tabuu. He calls himself Tabuu."

"The blue guy with the wings, right?" Meta Knight nodded at Dedede's question. "Did he say anything about what he's planning? He had to have a reason for attacking the ship."

"Nothing. Just that he was searching for recruits. How amusing that I seem to be such a popular person to go to for that."

Dedede tried not to growl at the subtle remark about his own goals. "We gotta get out. We have to figure out a way to see what he's up to, and…" A sudden revelation hit him. "Who's driving this winged bucket?"

As if on cue, the ship made a sharp turn to the right, flooring them both. As they got back to their feet, they saw shadowly, purple orbs begin to swarm the deck. They seemed to be moving haphazardly, until they then began to cluster into larger groups.

"Stand guard." Meta Knight held his sword in front of him, preparing to use it.

"Huh?"

The groups began to form together, changing shape and color. They turned into the green-garbed creatures from before, ready to strike.

"Do we split up again?" Dedede asked, gripping his hammer tightly.

"What? No!"

In that moment of distraction, they didn't see something appear near the Halberd. By the time they saw the blue, it had been too late, and the Halberd was rammed into. For such a small…_person_, in comparison to the ship, Tabuu had immense strength.

"You will not leave," he said in an unearthly voice. "Not with your lives. Not with your freedom."

"Dedede, we have to find shelter!" He tried not to roll his eyes at Meta Knight stating the obvious.

Dedede looked around, seeing that running into the interior would be too slow. Then, he looked into the area to his left. Did the darkness seem a little…thin there? As if light was filtering through, like sun peeking through clouds? "We have to jump."

Even though Meta Knight's eyes seemed perpetually in a glow under his mask, Dedede could glean just enough emotion in them to know he was unwilling to do such a thing. He had great pride in his ship, and did not want to abandon it. There was also the fact that the crew had not been seen for some time. It was possible they were still fighting, somewhere in the ship. They were doing it for the ship – and for Meta Knight.

And, yet…

Dedede saw the wings begin to form on Tabuu. There wasn't any time to argue. "Come with me!" Despite Meta Knight's protests, he grabbed him and started running, swinging his hammer uneasily to knock the creatures away. He jumped off the edge, feeling himself fall, and suddenly the world behind him was colder, and he could swear ice was prickling at him, threatening to freeze him solid–

Then, he felt like he had gone through a sheet of satin, and his vision flooded with light of the outside world once more.

It wasn't over yet, though. Shockwaves came out from where they had escaped, stunning him and Meta Knight. He let go, falling fast, towards the jungle below. He looked up, barely catching a glimpse of Meta Knight's cape changing into wings before he fell too far to be able to see him anymore.

And now, Dedede was alone. He was falling headfirst, and struggling to breathe. Already, his vision had gone from filled with light to a dim, reddish color, and tunnel vision was setting in. This was bad. Really bad. He was out of contact with his Waddle Dees at the moment, and for all he knew, the entire jungle he was about to crash into could have been devoid of sapient life.

He had to try and save himself. His hammer falling out of his grip was only vaguely registered as Dedede forced himself to suck in breath. For a moment, this only made things worse, as the air was practically sucked _out_ of him instead, but, after a second, he made progress. Quickly, he let his body convert it to something lighter than the air, hoping it'd be enough to slow the fall…

It worked, and his momentum began to decrease. Still, there was only so much he could do, and he hit the trees hard, scratched and jabbed as he finally hit the ground below.

Dedede didn't know how long he laid there. He almost threw up several times, his body struggling to recover. It was true that those not native to this world had much better endurance than normal people. However, trying to save himself with a tactic that nearly made him faint and _still _managing to crash into the jungle had taken a serious toll on him.

After what seemed to be an eternity, he found the strength to sit up. His mind still felt like pins were being stuck in it, but he cleared it enough to think. Tabuu was strong, and those rings… When the memories of his narrow escape hit him once more, he shuddered.

Finally, Dedede looked up, barely able to see anything through the canopy. What he did manage to see, however, was a purple sphere floating in the sky. That had to be where he and Meta Knight – wherever he flew off to – came out of.

He still wasn't sure quite what Tabuu needed an army for, but it could not be good.

Slowly, Dedede pulled himself to his feet, using a tree for support. He needed to find his hammer, and then get to his castle. There, he'd have to find a way to counter Tabuu.

A world without warmth, like the one he had escaped from, quite frankly scared him.

* * *

Edit, 11-10-08: Well, thanks, everyone! :D I'm really glad you all liked it! I wish the scene would have been released, too, like as a bonus for beating SSE – it explains some plotholes (and I wouldn't have had to had my original theory shot down). I didn't really intend to make Meta Knight look like a jerk, though. I was thinking that he worked on saving himself first, and by the time he was sure he was out of danger, Dedede was pretty much completely out of sight. Plus, I also like to think he figured Dedede would be alright, but was only about half right. Ah, well. I'm half-convinced the main Kirby characters are all jerks anyway.


End file.
